


Cornered

by RiRiMania1335



Series: You're a god and I'm just awkward [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cringe worthy, Keith never got kicked out of the Garrison AU, Lance is smooth, M/M, keith is major awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-09-07 08:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8790130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiRiMania1335/pseuds/RiRiMania1335
Summary: When it came to social interactions, Keith Kogane was far behind many of his fellow classmates. Actually, that would be a bit of understatement. Keith absolutely did not understand other people at all.





	1. Chapter 1

When it came to social interactions, Keith Kogane was far behind many of his fellow classmates. Actually, that would be a bit of understatement. Keith absolutely did not understand other people at all. 

He kinda understood the biology of it all. It was the thoughts, the feelings, the emotions that he couldn’t wrap his head around. But given his limited experience with people, it made a lot of sense. Spending a lifetime avoiding others would surely lead to a few social deficits. Like the inability to empathize, a lack of compassion, and basically no general idea of how to flirt. 

Lance, on the other hand, was the textbook definition of social butterfly. Literally, look in a dictionary: Social Butterfly - Lance McClain. Lance would talk to everyone. And he would flirt with anyone, and on some occasions, anything. No lie, Hunk once put a wig on a crash test dummy and Lance spent the better part of thirty minutes chatting it up before he realized the ruse. However, his advances never got him very far. Usually, girls and boys alike would wave him off without a second glance, sometimes even without any word at all. 

But not Keith. When Lance cornered him and commented on his “retro-punk aesthetic” Keith couldn’t form a single word. He couldn’t look away because  _ oh no, this kid is hot and he’s talking to me. What the hell do I do _ . Lance must have loved the way Keith blinked rapidly and turned tomato red at his comment, because he continued. From the crop of his jacket to the orientation of his dark fringed bangs, Lance laid on compliment after compliment. And Keith was sure at any second he would either vomit or pass out. He calculated a 30 percent chance he would do both. 

Thankfully, Lance backed off before either of those happened, taking a cool step back and extending his hand for a more formal (more humanistic) introduction. Keith accepted the hand. He was familiar with this action, he’d recognized it. It didn’t scare him. “Lance McClain, by the way. Cargo pilot, though I want to move up to fighting class.”

“K-Keith Kogane. Fighter pilot.” His reply was stuttered and bashful. Lance’s hand felt good in his own. 

Lance’s jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide. Keith worried he’s done something wrong, said something wrong. “You’re a fighter pilot. That’s so cool! What’s it like?” 

That was a dumb question. It’s like being a cargo pilot, but with some more blasting. Keith had to laugh, though not at all out loud. He didn’t want to offend. “It’s cool, I guess.” Keith realized he was still holding Lance’s hand when he moved to run it through his hair. He choked on his words as he pulled his hand away. When Lance looked down with a pout at his now empty hand, Keith failed to notice. Brushing the bangs from his eyes, he continued like nothing totally embarrassing had happened. “I mean, we pretty much just use the simulator. I’d love to actually go out and pilot a real ship.” 

Lance still seemed preoccupied by his own empty hand. When he wasn’t staring at the gaps between his own fingers, he’d taken to glancing at the spaces between Keith’s. Keith was sure he hadn’t heard what he said. But what if he did, and he just didn’t have a response. Then if Keith repeated it, he would embarrass himself even further. Keith was nervous, this had gone on for too long. He needed to get out of this situation. He needed to get far far away from Lance. This was quickly surpassing his level of appropriate social interaction. 

“So, Keith. What room are you in?” Lance asked, casually blocking off the escape route he knew Keith was eying. 

“Room?” Keith questioned too quickly, remembering the answer as soon as the words left his lips. 

“Yeah, you know. Your dorm room. The place where you sleep, where you do your homework. I don’t know, maybe the place where you do...other stuff.” Lance winked, and Keith took a second to be thankful that he did not have a drink. “Your room, where is it?” 

“C-wing, room 107.” Keith wanted to go on and talk about his roommate, Shiro, and the pet fish he kept there. But Lance hadn’t asked, so he kept all that to himself. 

Lance nodded with a smug smile, “Explains why I’ve never seen you around before. I’m in G-wing, room 87. I’ve got a roommate, Hunk. He’s a pretty cool guy. Fun to talk to anyway.” He went on and on explaining all the mischief he and Hunk had gotten themselves into; even though Keith never asked. Maybe it was okay to say random things. Or maybe that was just Lance. 

“He, uh, sounds like an interesting guy. Sounds like you guys have a lot of fun.” Keith wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say. Was he supposed to say anything. Should he counter with adventures that he and Shiro had gotten themselves into, though there wasn’t exactly much to say. They both tended to stay in and keep to themselves. Nothing like the many nights of risky criminal behavior Lance seemed to have enjoyed. 

“You’re not much of a talker, are you?” Lance was well on his way to earning the title of genius. Keith bashfully shrugged his shoulder; not to say that he didn’t know, rather to emphasize that he wasn’t bothered. “That’s okay. There are other things we can do with our mouths, you know.” Lance’s hand managed to find Keith’s again, and Keith didn’t resist. Whether he just didn’t resist, or physically couldn’t was anyone’s guess. 

Lance let out a soft chuckle as Keith’s face turned red and his forehead started showing beaded sweat. “Have you ever kissed a guy before?” Judging by the perplexed and practically mortified expression, Lance figured that was a no. “Have you ever kissed...anyone before?” Keith finally started to move, leaning back against the wall and turning his head down. There was a small pout on his lips and Lance found it absolutely adorable with the downward slant of his eyes. “Guess not.” Lance huffed, using a single finger to pick up Keith’s chin. “Want me to fix that?” 

“It’s not broken.” Keith managed his first words in minutes. Lance broke down with laughter, being physically unable to look at Keith without starting the fit all over again. Damn it, he’d said something stupid. He said something really dumb when he should been flirting and now he ruined it. He ruined his one opportunity to kiss a really hot guy. Because he sucks at flirting. 

Lance’s laughter finally died down after a bit and he was able to look at Keith again, “You’re right. It’s not broken. There’s nothing wrong with never having kissed anyone before.” Keith wished he’d say more. He wished that Lance would come up with another smooth pick up line that would segway into another kissing opportunity. And he prayed that this time he wouldn’t fuck it up. He would say something witty, something smart and then they would kiss and everything would be okay for like five seconds. Keith waited for five seconds, ten seconds, fifteen seconds, just to see if Lance would say anything else. The silence was eerie. He had to fill it, even if it was with his own shaky voice.

“There have been plenty of times I could have been kissed.” He lied, that was a lie. “It just never felt like the right time. I want it so be special or something like that.” Great, now he’s made himself out to be some kind of prude. Now Lance would never want to kiss him, because no one wants to kiss a sappy, prude liar. 

“Is that so,” Lance smirked, “Well if that’s the case, we’ll have to go somewhere more special. Because I really want to kiss you.” Keith wondered how Lance could be so brutally honest, so open about his desires without worrying. Deep deep down, Keith was probably a little envious. “Maybe I could take you out,” Keith’s eyes widened with worry and Lance quickly added a counteroffer, “or keep you in, whatever you prefer. Candlelight, rose petals, the whole shebang. And then, when the timing is just right, I’ll lean over,” Lance arched his back and kept his face only a few centimetres from Keith’s, “And I’ll press my lips gently against yours. And we’ll see where it goes from there.” Keith could feel Lance’s breath on his lips as he whispered the last part. He knew his face would be redder than a tomato and his heart raced in anticipation? Dread? He couldn’t say. All he knew was that he really didn’t want to have to wait that long to get there. Curse him and his stupid lying romantic side. 

“I’m free tonight.” Keith replied stupidly quick, eagerness practically dripping off his tongue as the words tumbled out. 

“Someone’s impatient.” Lance chuckled, “Seems you can’t resist my Lance-ish charm.” He winked and ran a hand through his too-short hair. Keith wanted to touch his hair too. So much so, he hadn’t even recognized it was his turn to speak. Thankfully, he didn’t have to. 

“Lance, there you are!” A new stranger approached the two of them. A bigger guy with a yellow t-shirt and an orange headband. Clearly a friend of Lance. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you man, don’t you remember we were gonna go -” He finally noticed Keith trapped by Lance’s arms in the corner. “Oh, God Lance, tell me you did not forget our plans because you were terrorizing this kid.” 

“Buh, buh, buh. Hunk,” Keith recognized that name. This was Lance’s roommate. “I was not  _ terrorizing _ him. We were flirting.” Keith begged to differ. Lance was the one flirting, Keith was the one ruining every decent moment Lance set up with his dumb remark or weird comment. 

“Well, judging by that, this should be about the time he kicks you in the shin and runs off.” Hunk rolled his eyes, slapping Lance against the back, “Don’t worry buddy, you’ll get the next one.” 

Lance jabbed an elbow into Hunk’s gut, “I’ve got this one just fine, thank you very much.” He gave Hunk one last sharp glare before turning his attention back to Keith. “Don’t mind him, he’s just a big idiot who has no sense of when to leave.” Based on the tone of Lance’s voice, that was meant to bite. “Anyway, I’ll be around tonight after 8:00. I’ll come down your place, say 8:30. C-wing 107, right.” Keith simply nodded and watched as Hunk practically dragged Lance away. 

He couldn’t believe it. He’d got himself a date. 


	2. First Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So because this lines up so nicely with the previous chapter, I'm putting as a chapter 2 to this fic. But everything else will be random moments after this moment and will be posted as separate fics in this series. 
> 
> Also, thanks to everyone who commented on this! I did not realize so many people needed an awkward Keith as much as I did. Every comment made my day and I appreciate it so much!

Lance and Hunk were far out of sight, nothing keeping Keith from leaving the confines of the corner. And yet, he didn’t move. Internally, he was still process what just happened. He just got asked out. On a date. With a guy. Who was really really hot. It would take him a few days to process that. 

Unfortunately, he didn’t have a few days. He barely had a few hours. Looking down at his wrist, Keith saw that it was already after five o’clock. Shit. Lance said he would come over around eight o’clock. That realization was enough to shock Keith out of the corner and send him running back to the C-wing. Unlocking the door like a pro, he greeted his roommate with panicked and labored screams. “Shiro, Shiro, you’ve gotta help me out.” 

Shiro sat on his bed, a textbook in his lap. He looked up, having never seen Keith so worked up in all their time rooming together. Keith usually came back to the room and minded his own business. Occasionally they exchanged words about their day, but otherwise remained close to silent. The low hum of music through headphones or the click of buttons on a calculator or the splashing of their resident fish put some semblance of noise in the room. But this Keith, pacing around the room and asking Shiro for help, this was new. And this made Shiro feel very very worried. “Keith? What’s the matter?” He tried not make any assumptions, but he couldn’t stop the negativities from flying through his head. Was Keith hurt? Did he get into trouble? Did he fail a test or something? The possibilities were endless. 

“I - I have a date tonight.” Keith admitted with fearful eyes. Shiro’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. Of all the scenarios running through his head, he would never have guessed that was Keith’s problem. For a moment, he considered laughing. Maybe Keith was playing some kind of joke on him. But Keith wasn’t really the joking type. 

“Keith, that sounds like the opposite of a problem.” He chuckled, closing the textbook and setting it aside. His roommate’s romantic future took precedence over his calculus homework. “Certainly not something you should be this stressed out over.” 

Keith stopped pacing and turned to glare at Shiro. “Have you met me, Shiro? This is exactly something I would be stressing out about. I’ve never ever been on a date before in my life. I-I don’t know what to do. And this guy, he’s really attractive. He just came onto me so strong and then he asked me out. What if I screw it up. What if he finds out more about me and decides he doesn’t like me.” He curled over, pressing his the heels of his palms into his thighs and coughing out his breaths. 

Shiro worried he’d drive himself into a full fledged panic attack if he couldn’t find a way to calm him down. He’d seen Keith have panic attacks before, but they were over huge assignments or simulator exams. Never over a boy before. He jumped off the bed and cautiously approached Keith, speaking to him in a clear and comforting voice, “Keith, buddy. Try to calm down. Breathe with me now, okay.” He started counting his breaths, reminding Keith when he should inhale and when he should exhale to get him back to a steady rate. When he finally had Keith breathing again, he coaxed him over to his bed and encouraged him to sit down. “Now, tell me what happened.” 

And Keith did. Keith explained how this Lance character had cornered him and started attacking him with really sweet compliments and then he introduced himself and they got to chatting. He talked about Lance wanted to kiss him, but he fucked it up because he was either really nervous or really stupid. (In reality, Shiro knew it was because he was just really awkward, but he kept that to himself.) He elaborated on how Lance’s friend Hunk dragged Lance away after they confirmed their date for 8:30 that night, which crept closer with every passing second. 

Shiro nodded, taking it all in. “Okay, so he’s going to pick you up here at 8:30?” He asked and Keith nodded, “Alright. That’s no big deal. You’ve still got plenty of time. And if he asked you out after only talking with you for a few minutes, then he probably really likes you. Just be yourself and you’ll be fine.” He added with a smile.

Keith mumbled something about how being himself is the worst thing he could possibly be. Shiro pretended he didn’t hear anything. Instead, he turned to his phone and started typing. “I’ll make plans to stay with Pidge tonight, so you can have the room all to yourself, should you guys decide to stay in.” he smirked and Keith scoffed. But he was thankful Shiro was so helpful. He’d have to remember to make more of an effort to befriend Shiro rather than maintain their coexisting relationship. 

\----

Shiro left the room within the next hour, giving Keith dating advice and then leaving him alone to fend for himself. He checked the time - it was already half past six. He still had about two hours to prepare for Lance. 

Taking a few deep breaths, he looked around his side of the room. He assessed his room for anything that could come across as embarrassing. And he decided it was time to make some major modifications. The posters of space and aliens and stars hanging above his bed had to go, along with his rather extensive collection of Lego rockets he’d been building since he was nine. He threw the bulky graphing calculator sitting on his desk into a random drawer and tossed his legendary astronaut figurines on top of the calculator. He made his bed three times over to ensure there were no creases in the bedding. 

He was determined to make everything perfect for when Lance showed up. He was determined not to ruin this opportunity for himself. He was determined to make this work. 

And so, with his room bland and ordinary with absolutely nothing for Lance to ridicule, he sat at his desk and waited. And he waited for the better part of an hour. 

It was 8:38. Keith was starting to wonder if Lance had forgotten. Or if Lance had intentionally wanted to get his hopes up. He frowned as he watched the seconds tick by on his watch. It was his fault for getting so excited about it in the first place. He should have known someone like Lance wouldn’t go after someone like him. 

It was 8:43 when the door finally knocked and Keith perked up ever so slightly. Standing out of his chair, he sped over to the door and pulled it open. Lance was standing on the other side with a bouquet of some pale pink flower Keith didn’t recognize in one hand and a box of fancy looking chocolate in the other. Keith’s face turned red. 

Lance invited himself into the room, slipping right past Keith. “Sorry I’m a little late. My event went a little later than expected, and I had to stop at the store and pick these up for you.” He handed Keith the bouquet and the chocolates, “I would have texted you to let you know I was running late, but I never got your number.” 

Keith fumbled with the objects in his hands. Damn it, he needed some kind of vase to put these flowers in or something. “D-Do you want it?” Keith asked and Lance looked a little confused as he watched Keith struggle to keep everything in his hands. “My number, I mean.” He added. 

Lance smiled and pulled his phone from his pocket, “Yeah. I would actually.” He readied himself for Keith to give his phone number. Keith set the gifts down on his desk and started reciting his phone number while Lance hurriedly typed it in. “Thanks, now I just need a contact picture for you,” He hardly allowed Keith any time to prepare before his camera was up and aimed at Keith, “Say cheese,” He announced as he hit the button and the camera flashed in Keith’s eyes. 

Keith flinched as the camera flashed, still not having registered that Lance was taking a photo of him. His eyes squinted nearly shut and his hands flew up in his face. And that was the moment Lance captured. And he kept it, much to Keith’s distaste. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll be taking tons of pictures together, so I’ll probably change your contact picture every day.” He reassured. Keith glanced down at Lance’s phone and noticed two little red heart emojis next to his contact name. He blushed again. “Alright, now give me your phone so I can put my information in.” 

Keith sacrificed his device without so much as a sound. Lance input his contact info and even took a selfie to set as his contact photo. It was beautiful. He was smiling wide and throwing up a peace sign and his eyes looked like they sparkled. Keith wouldn’t admit that he would spend his free time staring at that photo now forever stored on his phone. When Lance handed Keith his phone back, he noticed that there were two blue hearts next to Lance’s contact name. Blue must be his favorite color. 

Keith kept smiling at the selfie until his phone buzzed and that photograph popped up on his screen with a message from the boy standing right across from him. Keith looked up at him with confusion and Lance just carded his hair, “Just wanted to make sure you gave me the right number.” He smirked. Keith read the message to himself:  _ Hey Keith.  _ He noted the winky face emoji. “So,” Lance’s syrup sweet voice dragged out the vowel, “Where were we this afternoon?” In one smooth motion, Lance was but a few centimeters away from Keith, one hand resting on the small of Keith’s back and the other sliding along the skin of Keith’s neck. Keith panicked. He’d never been touched like this before. 

Lance was so forthcoming. Lance was so confident and so suave and so everything Keith wanted to be. And with Lance setting the mood so perfectly yet again, Keith knew what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to get his fingers tangled up in the short strands of Lance’s hair and tilt his chin up and gently press their lips together. And they would kiss and stars would collide and angels would sing. But that’s not what he did. Instead, he looked down at his and Lance’s shoes. “Thanks for the candy and the flowers, but I didn’t get you anything.” Keith mentally kicked himself in that moment and promised to physically kick himself later.

Lance stepped back with an understanding smile. He probably knew he would have to slow things down a  _ lot _ before he would be able to get to that kind of a point with Keith. Before they would ever get to the point where Keith would know how to reciprocate an advance or even initiate one of his own. So for Keith’s sake, he decided to slow it down. In retrospect, it was foolish of him to even speed it up in the first place. “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t expect you to have anything for me. Just having the opportunity to spend time with you is enough of a gift.” 

Where did Lance come up with these genius lines? Keith honestly wondered if he had them in some kind of mental reserve or if he was actually just  _ that  _ good. All he could manage as a response was a few choppy “ohs” and “ums” as he stared down at the floor again. Lance knew Keith wasn’t going to add anything. Though they’d only known each other for a very short while, Lance had a very good understanding of the kind of guy Keith was - romantically hopeless. They would work on it. “So, what did you want to do tonight?” He asked, hoping that would prompt some kind of discussion he could roll with. 

Keith shrugged his shoulders and looked back to Lance. Lance’s smile faltered. So he was indecisive. Awesome. “My roommate is staying with a friend tonight, so he won’t be back. So we could stay here.” Keith secretly hoped that Lance would be okay with that. He definitely did not want to go out anywhere. And risk that kind of social embarrassment - no thank you. He saw Lance’s smile grow again, a devilish look in his eyes, “Oh, no I don’t mean you have to sleep here or anything. I mean, unless you, like, want to. But like, I’ve only got this bed and I don’t think Shiro would like it if…” Lance listened attentively as Keith continued to ramble, finding it oddly charming. He found it much more endearing than Keith’s usual silence anyway. 

“Keith, you’re rambling.” Lance decided to point out after Keith had stopped making any coherent sense. Suddenly, Keith fell silent, a deep blush rushing to his cheeks and he was certain he’d went and fucked it up again.  He muttered a short apology, bashfully rubbing his forearms together. Lance smirked. Keith’s embarrassment was adorable, and his naivety was precious. “No sweat,” He snaked an arm around Keith’s waist. Keith instantly tensed. “I don’t mind staying here and just hanging out. I’d love to get to know you better, anyway.” 

Keith had one of his own hands hovering around the small of Lance’s back, but it never made contact. Lance didn’t even know it was there. “There really isn’t much to know.” Keith replied. Well, there was much to know, but nothing Keith was willing to share. Too much sharing may him cost him this chance. 

Lance smiled and tousled Keith’s hair. Taking another look around the room, he finally noticed how barren the one side looked. No posters, no chotskies, there weren’t even textbooks laying around. If not for the red comforter and yellow cased pillows on the bed, Lance would have assumed no one inhabited that side of the room. “Let me guess, that’s your side, isn’t it?” He gestured to his left and Keith turned. With pink tinted cheeks, Keith nodded. “Don’t you have stuff? How can you handle it being so bland? It’s like a prison cell.” 

Keith didn’t like how bland it looked. He didn’t like the nakedness of his walls or the bareness of his desk. His posters and his figured made the Garrison feel like a home to him. Without them, it just felt like school. He spared a glance to the bottom drawer of the desk, where he’d stashed all his belongings. Would it be okay to show Lance? They were both in a space exploration after all. “I’ve got stuff.” He replied curtly. 

“Well where is it?” Lance scanned the room again. 

Keith stepped away from Lance and walked over to his desk. “It’s in the drawers. I took it all down before you got here.” So Keith was capable of being brutally honest. Why did it sound so much better when Lance did it, though. 

“What? Is it like weird porn or inspirational cat posters or something?” He laughed as he took a large step in Keith’s direction. Keith ignored that comment and took a deep breath before opening the drawer and pulling out his posters, and his Lego creations, and his astronaut figurines and went about rearranging them on his desk as Lance watched with wide eyes. “Did you actually think I’d judge you about being a space nerd while we are both in a space exploration program?” Yeah, in retrospect, it would have been weirder if he didn’t have any tributes to space in his room.

Keith climbed on his bed and secured the posters back on his wall, “I just.” He faltered, “I wanted to make a good first impression.” His voice was stoic, so concentrated on making sure the posters were evenly spaced apart. 

Lance stood behind Keith, watching him focus. “You already made your first impression, remember. In the hallway.” Lance’s hands found Keith’s hips and Keith nearly fell off the bed as he twitched. Eventually he would have to get used to that. Lance seemed to be very handsy. “You already won me over, so you don’t have to worry about impressions anymore.” 

“I’ve never won anything before.” 

Lance broke out in laughter as Keith climbed off the bed, “Oh, damn, you are just too cute.” He said as he wiped a figurative tear from his eye. “So what do you say we finally get this date started?”

Keith cocked his head to the side, “Are we not already having the date?” Lance laughed again and Keith blushed. There was so much he still had to learn, as Lance so elegantly pointed out. 

“Keith, buddy, do you have a lot to learn.” 

As Keith later learned, the date didn’t actually start until they were both situated on Keith’s bed. Lance basically took control of their positioning, keeping Keith by his side and draping an arm over Keith’s shoulders. They continued just talking for a while. Well, Lance was doing most of the talking. Keith was listening and contributing with small hums of affirmation when it was appropriate, and sometimes even when it wasn’t. 

Turned out Lance had a large and loving family, several siblings, two parents who loved each other very much, grandparents who lived close enough to walk to, and aunts and uncles all across the globe who always wandered back for the holidays. He learned that Lance’s family used to take long camping trips out into the middle of nowhere and spend long nights stargazing and speculating about worlds beyond Earth, and thus, his love for space was born. He learned that Lance was more a cat person than a dog person, but he had two large Dobermans at home - Dante and Diego. 

Lance tried to pry into Keith’s life, tried to understand Keith family background, his history, what made him who he was. But Keith was always very dismissive about it. Not even Shiro knew where he was prior to enrolling in the Garrison. Lance tried not to press to hard, and eventually backed off. But he reassured Keith that if he ever needed to get something off his chest, he would always listen. Keith was grateful for that. 

It was almost 11:00, Keith noted staring down at his watch. Lance noticed Keith check the time. Had he really rambled on about his family and his life for over an hour. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun. “Getting tired?” Lance asked. 

Keith shook his head, “I usually stay up really late working on homework.” Keith furrowed his brow, reminding himself that he shouldn’t talk about school during the date. He didn’t want to sounds like a nerd. 

“Yeah, me too.” Lance said through a yawn and Keith raised a brow. “But that event today really tired me out, I guess. I should probably get going.” Lance’s arm left Keith’s shoulder and Keith instantly missed it. It finally started to feel comfortable, to feel normal. But he could understand that Lance was tired. 

“Wait. You can’t leave yet.” Keith pleaded with a crack in his voice and his fingers fumbling in his lap. That got Lance’s attention immediately. They stayed in a few moments of silence. Lance stared at Keith while Keith stared straight down. “You - You said you were gonna kiss me.” As soon as the words left his lips, he could feel his face heating up. His voice was barely above a whisper. Lance leaned in closer. He thought he heard what Keith said, but needed to hear it again, for reasons. 

“Come again,” Lance asked. And with that smug smirk on his face, it was clear Lance did hear him well enough the first time. 

Keith really didn’t want to have to say it again. It was hard enough to say it the first time. It would be near impossible to say it again. But he really  _ really  _ didn’t want to end the night just yet. “Earlier, you said you would kiss me tonight. But you didn’t even try.” He sounded a little heartbroken this time. 

Lance could feel his insides melting at the tone of Keith’s voice. And the way his head tilted down, bangs shielding his eyes, made Lance’s heart skip a beat, or possibly five. He leaned back on the bed, taking his hand and cupping Keith’s chin. Keith flinched, then mentally yelled at himself because Lance was touching him and that was fine. Against his will, Keith’s head raised and he found himself staring into Lance’s deep blue eyes. No words were exchanged, though Keith’s lips were moving in some sort of way.  Lance’s other hand cupped the other side of Keith’s face and while Keith was distracted by the new touch, Lance leaned in and lips touched ever so gently. 

Lance waited. It really couldn’t be called a kiss, yet; it was more like their lips were just on one another's. He wanted to see how Keith would react. In his head, he imagined that Keith would pull back. He thought Keith would shy away or that his jaw would drop. Nowhere in his imagination did he think Keith would reciprocate., so he wasn’t all that disappointed when Keith didn’t.

Keith sat there. Unable to do much of anything. There were many things he wanted to do, like touch Lance’s hair or his face or his shoulders. He wanted Lance’s lips pressed ever further against his, like he’s seen in the movies hundreds of times. Those wet, sloppy, passionate kisses that he always thought was the standard. But he couldn’t bring himself to meet any of those needs. So he waited and tried to anticipate Lance’s next move. 

When Keith didn’t back away, Lance took that as a good sign and leaned further, their noses pressed against each other in a way that made Lance want to laugh. This was probably the most awkward kiss of his life. And he loved every second of it. Keith’s lips weren’t puckered and his eyes were wide open, clearly watching everything happen in disbelief. Lance thought it was wonderful. 

After a few seconds pressed together like that, Lance finally tilted his head, their noses avoiding each other as he actually attempted a real kiss with Keith. He tried to coax the motions out of Keith, using his own lips to pull lightly on Keith’s. But the other didn’t seem to get it. So Lance decided to end it with one more long press. And when he pulled away, he chuckled at how Keith seemed to follow him to an extent. 

“You’re a good kisser.” Lance smirked. It wasn’t a lie, exactly, so much as it was a premonition. He was sure that once Keith got the hang of it, he would be a very good kisser. Besides, what was a little self-confidence booster. From what Lance could tell, the kid needed one. 

“You kissed me.” Keith replied, red as a tomato with a surprised look in his eyes.

Lance chuckled, “You said you wanted me to.” He soon learned that Keith’s hair was very very soft. His fingers couldn’t stop getting lost in longer strands around Keith’s neck. 

“Why did I have to ask? You said you would just go for it.” Keith sounded a lot of things. He sounded confused, surprised, giddy, and maybe even a little offended. 

Lance nearly lost it. Keith was so unintentionally hilarious. He was golden. “I tried to ‘just go for it’ when I got here. You seemed really freaked out and then changed the subject. So I decided to slow it down, for your sake.” Lance explained and Keith’s face could not have gotten any redder if it wanted to, “If I had my way, I would have kissed you while we were standing in the hallway. But I don’t want to scare you away. We can go at whatever pace you’re comfortable with.” 

Keith looked down bashfully. He remembered the way Lance walked in and instantly had his arms all over Keith. He remembered how Lance set up another perfect moment and Keith managed to ruin it. He had to remember to thank Lance for being so considerate and so understanding. 

“Was it as special as you’d hoped it would be?” Based on the look on Keith’s face, Lance had to clarify more, “Your first kiss. Was it as special as you hoped?” 

Keith was lost in Lance’s hopeful blue eyes. He was mesmerized by Lance’s creamy caramel skin. He was captivated by Lance’s cool hands against his burning cheeks. He was happy. “Yeah, it was everything I could have hoped for.” He’d never been more sincere in his life, and he hoped Lance appreciated that. 

\----

Lance stayed another few minutes before he finally hopped off the bed and walked toward the door. Keith followed close behind, wanting to walk Lance all the way back to G-wing, but deciding against it. As Lance took a step out the door, Keith opened his mouth again. “Hey, Lance.” The taller teen looked back at Keith with questioning eyes. “Are you my boyfriend now?” 

Lance bit his tongue to stop himself from chuckling. Keith was too fucking cute for his own good. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked quizzically at the ceiling. “Do you want me to be?”

Keith said nothing, but his eyes spoke so clearly for him. With an expression of sentiment and gratitude and affection, there was no way Lance would misinterpret it. 

“Then yeah.” He swiftly leaned down and pressed his lips to Keith’s cheek. “Sleep tight, boyfriend.” He whispered in Keith's ear before finally taking his leave. 

That night, Keith slept with a palm on his cheek and a bouquet of peonies tucked under his arm. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was Keith more awkward or less awkward this time? I can't tell. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this awkward Keith gets his first kiss. I did go a little overboard and that's my bad. But I absolutely love writing this AU. 
> 
> Come hang out with me on [ tumblr! ](http://animezing-life.tumblr.com/) Let's talk Klance, let's talk Voltron.

**Author's Note:**

> Awkward Keith is my aesthetic. Awkward Keith is also me. Hope it wasn't too cringe worthy (but I'll admit, I cringed a few times while I was writing it)
> 
> So this is the first installment of my new series: You're a god and I'm just awkward. Basically every fic will be about awkward Keith trying to learn how-to-relationship with Lance. 
> 
> You should go find me on [ tumblr ](http://animezing-life.tumblr.com/) and we should talk about Klance. Because I have so many feelings for this ship. 
> 
> Kudos, Comments, or any feedback at all is always appreciated!


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